Maxim Mikhaylov is one of many world-class volleyball players portrayed in the 2014 calendar produced by two-time CEV Champions League winners Zenit Kazan

Kazan, Russia, December 30, 2013 – As the year 2013 draws to a close, many clubs are distributing a calendar portraying their players so as to provide their fans with something that will accompany their journey through the year 2014. Russia’s standout Zenit Kazan just produced something very special.

The capital city of Tatarstan showcased its beauty last summer as Kazan played host to the 2013 Summer Universiade. By this time of the year, photos of Kazan’s most beautiful places and corners were taken to display what the city may offer to foreign tourists and all those who may want to travel to Tatarstan and discover its history and culture.

A few months later, as the players of Zenit got together for the start of the season, they all joined a studio portrait session and their pictures were then combined with those of Kazan’s “hottest” places to compose the 2014 calendar of the team that has won the 2008 and 2012 editions of the CEV Volleyball Champions League. Zenit just made it to the Playoffs 12 of the 2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men after topping the charts of the “group of death” that also included the likes of Italy’s Lube Banca Marche Macerata and last year’s gold medalists Lokomotiv Novosibirsk. As Europe’s elite club competition will resume after the Christmas break, Zenit will play Germany’s Berlin Recycling Volleys in the Playoffs 12.

The calendar is being sold and distributed under the slogan “Zenit Kazan – A team of giants” and this is exactly what you get to feel as you go through the photos portraying Maxim Mikhaylov and many more Volleyball stars next to Kazan’s Kremlin and other landmarks.

Click here for a comprehensive gallery of the pictures that compose the 2014 official calendar of Zenit Kazan (photos by Roman Kruchinin)